The MP warned that there’s little that either he or the Government could do if the charity running the palace decides to introduce a tariff, saying: “There’s nothing to stop them going ahead.”

Letters have been flooding into the Tory MP’s Westminster office from people concerned about the palace plans.

“I’ve taken up all the letters I have had and written to Rod Giddins, but there’s not much joy, really,” Mr Taylor lamented. “They are pretty adamant that they are going to charge somehow.”

Despite employing a distribution company to send letters to every resident in East and West Molesey and Thames Ditton, scores of people reported that they had not received any communication from Historic Royal Palaces (HRP), asking for their views.

An HRP spokeswoman explained that many people may think the cost of writing to people individually was too expensive to be a viable option in consulting neighbours’ opinion.

Other residents have suggested that the fact that the letter is titled “Neighbourhood Questionnaire” may have led people to think that the correspondence was of little consequence.

“I can understand that local residents are worried about charges,” said Mr Taylor. “I urge people to contact them directly so that they can’t claim that they weren’t told.”

Mr Taylor said that he didn’t think charging was a good idea, but added: “I suspect that they are coming under a lot of pressure.

There’s a huge cost in maintaining the gardens, which has to be taken into account and paid for.

“You can well understand the frustration of people who have been using it free of charge all of this time. There has to be some balance between what the taxpayers provide and what the users provide.”

When asked if he considered the introduction of entrance charges to be a fait accompli, he said: “I have a feeling from the correspondence that they are minded to do so.”